Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) is, with Browning and Tennyson, one of the touchstone Victorian poets. He was a major critic and an important fiction writer as well. Emerging out of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, his bold and innovative work made him both a celebrated and controversial writer at home and a figure of international importance. Hugo, Baudelaire, and Mallarmé were among his great admirers.

Jerome McGann and Charles L. Sligh now present a generous sampling of Swinburne’s poetry and prose. This wide-ranging collection satisfies a long need for a comprehensive selection of Swinburne’s work. It is accompanied by learned and critically incisive commentaries and notes.

Jerome McGann, John Stewart Bryan Professor at the University of Virginia, is the author of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Game That Must Be Lost and editor of Rossetti’s Collected Poetry and Prose, both published by Yale University Press. Charles L. Sligh is a research fellow at The Complete Writings and Pictures of Dante Gabriel Rossetti: A Hypermedia Research Archive.


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Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent volume for a moderate knowledge of Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) was a Victorian poet loosely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.He was controversial both in his character and in his work.He is most known in poetry for his mastery of euphony, rhyme, and meter.

Major elements in Swinburne's work include opposition against standard Christianity; neo-paganism (especially associated with Proserpine, Pan, and Diana); parody; and love, especially with relation to death. He is perhaps best known for his poems "The Garden of Proserpine," "Anactoria," and Atalanta in Calydon.

Everything in this book has been selected out of Swinburne's entire corpus by the editors.That means pieces these particular editors do not find necessary or important have not been included, which is always makes me nervous.I am not a Swinburne scholar, but from what I've studied to this point it seems as though these editors made worthy decisions.Furthermore, with 528 pages of text, you're still getting a good bulk of Swinburne's work.

The edition begins with a helpful but not stellar introduction.Jerome McGann uses it as much as an apologetic as an introduction to Swinburne's life and works.Also, I would have liked it if he had given explanation and background for more poems than he did.The bibliography for the introduction in the back is ideal for beginning further study of the poet.

The explanatory notes are very helpful, but certainly not comprehensive.If you want to read Swinburne and get a basic to moderate understanding of the poems with the help of notes, this book is the right level.
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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Flouting conventional Victorian attitudes about religion, politics, decorum and morality, Swinburne was a sensualist, alive to pleasure and to pain. He was a poet not of objects and things, or of word paintings, but of energies-of wind and water-and what Tennyson called wonderful rhythmic invention. Atalanta in Calydon is a drama in classical Greek form, with choruses that reveal Swinburne's mastery of melodious verse. His poems are opulent hymns to sensual love in all its aspects, to the loss of love, and to death.

Together, the works in this unique volume demonstrate Swinburne's mastery of form and the rich complexity of his poetry. This edition contains a preface, a commentary on the poems and two appendices, including a map of the places mentioned in Atalanta in Calydon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Lush, sensuous beauty
As previous reviewers have noted so eloquently, Swinburne is sadly neglected these days. More's the pity, because his mastery of the flowing, luxuriously melodic line is astonishing, as is his ability to create vivid imagery. All the senses are engaged in his poems, so that the reader can practically feel the lines as if they were silk or satin. And all of this is so seemingly effortless, even though the technical skill required to create such work is painstaking & precise, the result of intense focus. Yet you'll come away feeling as if every line came naturally, spontaneously to Swinburne, a direct expression of his deepest feelings, thoughts & yearnings.

He has the reputation as a controversial poet, rebelling against the hypocritical moral & social strictures of his time. This is true, of course, although he was more the rebel in his poetry than in his day-to-day life. But he seems equally transgressive today, for quite a different reason: when shock & ugliness have become tired clichés, when imitative edginess is passed off as genuine rebellion, then it's actual beauty that becomes truly transgressive & taboo. Not the shoddy, mass-produced kitsch of a Thomas Kinkade or Hallmark cards, mind you, which has absolutely nothing to do with beauty -- no, Swinburne offers something very real, very moving -- an overgrown garden of roses (with thorns), rather than plastic flowers churned out by a factory.

For those who wish to lose themselves within a world of exquisite beauty -- one that's no stranger to grief or sorrow, either -- you can do no better than this very rich volume. Most highly recommended!

Great collection of the early Swinburne
How strange it is that a poet who burst on the scene like a thunderbolt in the 1860s is all but forgotten today. Perhaps we have Eliot to blame: his comments on Swinburne are certainly pervasive in all latter-day criticism on the poet. Others might say that the relevance of his poetry, with its devastating and blasphemous anti-christianity, its violent portrayal of atypical and obscene sexuality, and its recurring death-wish, is tied in with the period that created them.

Yet I beg to differ. Famous lines like "the supreme evil, God" and "There is no God found stronger than death and death is a sleep" may strike home more powerfully in the changing but still thoroughly Christian world of mid-nineteenth century England, but the sentiments expressed apply just as well to our times. Swinburne was, besides many other things, a poet of freedom at all costs, the heir of Blake, Shelley and the French Revolution. His tirades against Christianity are essentially tirades against oppression, against the soul's oppression of the body and the church's oppression of her followers, and as long as there are people who are not free, his voice is one to be heard.

Nor is it all blasphemy with Swinburne. In fact, perhaps the most highly rated poem in this volume is "The Triumph of Time", a long lament over lost love in which Swinburne displays all his technichal virtuosity without losing out in emotional content. Memorable lines may stand out, "I have woven a veil for the weeping face / whose lips have drunken the wine of tears", "Wrecked hope and passionate pain will grow / to tender things on a spring-tide sea", but singling them out is like singling out notes in Beethoven's Ninth. Swinburne's poetry is musical in more than only the sound of his language: it is musical also in its very structure, its non-linearity and in its constant appeal to the emotions. To experience it fully, you must, at least for moment, allow yourself to be swept away by the thundering currents and roaring rapids of his angry verses, and to move with the neverending tides of his slow and mournful sea-music.

The effort is well worth it indeed, and this volume is an excellent place to start.

poems & Ballads and more!
Thhis is the best book of Pre-Raph poetry, art and history that I have ever seen/read. I cannot believe that only 2 people have read and writtewn reviews about it. I am an artist, and the artwork, etc. in this text (art school textbook for me) is extremely emotive and inspirational!

It is expensive, but it is worth every red cent to an art and poetry lover!!! Give it a chance.

THE MESSY GLORY OF SWINBURNE'S POETRY
If you are like the mass of humanity you probably don't know Algernon Swinburne or his poems. It is a shame that so few do. If you'll forgive my presumptuousness, please let me tell you why you should take the time to meet the man and his poems.
First, you should meet him because he is messy.

If you have ever read Keats (lamentably few of you have probably even done this--much less reading Swinburne) then you will know the glory of the perfectly visual, perfectly written poem.

Swinburne, for all of the beauty in his words, has none of this in his writing. If the poetry of Keats is a stunningly well tended garden then the poetry of Swinburne is a lush overgrown field of wildflowers.

Second, you should meet Swinburne because he is exhilarating.

Few poets have the courage or the skill to layer line after unforgettable line like Swinburne. The very first poem in this book: A Ballad of Life, will demonstrate what I mean.

Third, you should meet Swinburne because of the very fact that he is too little read.

He is considered to be one of the group called Pre-Raphaelite poets (his book Poems and Ballads is dedicated to his friend and Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones).

This group as a whole gets criminally overlooked. After reading works by Pre-Raphaelites like Swinburne, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti I must say that I believe they stack up very well against their predecessors (the Romantics) and (in my opinion) eclipse successors like Yeats.

So, if you are looking for something to expand your literary horizons, or would just like something truly powerful and lovely to read, give this book by Swinburne a try.

I give it my recommendation.

Poetry Worth Reading
The early Swinburne (1860's-1880) is a very exciting poet and critic, and he has been one of my favorites for many years now.He is said to be a young man's poet, which, if certain themes in his "Poems and Ballads" be taken on a superficial level, he may well appear to be. Swinburne's "Poems and Ballads," like every book ever written,is an acknowledged classic, a masterpiece, and all of that sort of meaningless critical verbiage-- but "Poems and Ballads" really is a masterpiece in every sense of that fairly undefinable category.
If there any aspiring poets among you who are unaquainted with Swinburne, I suggest that you become acquainted with him at once-- you will almost certainly learn something from him on how powerful a well constructed, but seemingly artless poem can be. He is an absolute master of nearly every poetic form and poetic rhythm, and one of those uncommon writers of such facility that they seem to speak for you, or rather-- Swinburne manages to put into glittering poetic phrasing, thoughts and sentiments that every person feels, but only a few writers, such as Shakespeare or Dostoevsky, can both cogently and beautifully articulate.Naturally, such writers are the envy of everyone, but reading such poems of Swinburne's as "Hymn to Proserpine," "The Leper," or "A Ballad of Life," is as genuinely pleasurable as reading can possibly be.
For those of you who do not know Swinburne, I envy you your potential new discovery-- its not every day (given the popular availability of Baudelaire, Donne, et. al.) that one can turn up a writer of such calibur from nearly a century ago-- and who, until very recently, was practically forgotten.So many great poets and writers are only able to be read by English speakers in translation- we are nevertheless fortunate in our wealth of great English writers like Shakespeare, Marvell, even Emily Bronte.Swinburne is one of those writers by whom we English speakers should count ourselves fortunate to be able to read in the original language, and should avail ourselves in doing so. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Literary; Poetry / General; Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; ... Read more

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Astrophel and Other Poems - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne, Vol. VI is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Poems and Ballads (Third Series) - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne-Vol. III is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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A Channel Passage and Other Poems - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne-Vol VI is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Poems & Ballads (Second Series) - Swinburne's Poems Volume III is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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A Dark Month - From Swinburne's Collected Poetical Works Vol. V is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Volume: 4; Original Publisher: Chatto ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Sonnets, and Sonnets on English Dramatic Poets (1590-1650) - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne, Vol V. is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This volume comprises a selection of the poetic works of Swinburne. Castigated by his contemporaries for his treatment of moral, spiritual and political rebellion, and his sometimes sadistic and blasphemous subject matter, his poetry is imaginative through both classical and romantic traditions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great Poetry, Questionable Publishing
First off, I'd like to say that the poetry in this volume is not to be missed. However, I would suggest obtaining this particular set of poetry from a different publisher. This particular book does not have a table of contents...for a 300 some odds pages filled with 3 to 5 page pieces with no particular theme to tie them together. There is are two indexes in the back by all of the titles and first lines, respectively. But this is only marginally helpful.

That said. The actual contents of the book is superb. The poetry is elaborate yet fast paced. A lot of biblical references, but not-surprisingly-in a religious sense. That may be why it was so controversial at the time of its release.

I highly recommend Swinburne, but not this particular book.

A Reading Of "The Garden Of Proserpine"
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R27PDND41EG048 Swinburne was a much-neglected genius - His poems, when first published (including the poem I read here), were dubbed blasphemous and their author immoral by the Victoriians -His best poems, such as this one, convey a haunting, subterranean almost undead feel as no other poet can express.

Lots of eh, plus a bit of Whoa!
Most of the poems in this volume just don't do anything for me.But Garden of Proserpine is my favorite poem... EVER!... and I find Hertha to be as good as any spiritual poem I've ever read, certainly the equal of Whitman's Leaves of Grass and the Anglicized dross that's come to me out of the Orient in translation as haiku, Han Shan, the Upanishads, etc.I think Baudelaire would have hit Swinburne upside the head for the yawn-worthy Ave atque Vale - but then I'm not Baudelaire, I just like Baudelaire a lot.Hymn to Proserpine has the most elegant and meaningful music of any poem I have ever read.That's right - the meaning of this poem comes from its music.Musically, what Swinburne did with the English language was the equivalent of a driver's taking a Model T Ford on the Indy racetrack and winning the 500.You just wouldn't have known the language was capable of these maneuvers!

a now-forgotten master-poet
Back in 1865, A. C. Swinburne came out with a poetry collection titled "Songs and Ballads" which caused much controversy for its perceived lewdness and blasphemy. These very Victorian critics branded Swinburne "the poet laureate of satyrs." Reading this book today, it's hard to understand what the big deal was about, it seems like a harmless book with a few very vague undertones of sacrilege and sadomasochism. Swinburne's language and imagery are very archaic in style and not easy to understand or appreciate. He will never again be a popular poet, but his best work is unique for its musical rhythem. His poetry was praised for its mastery of complex metre and rhyme patterns and beautiful language, but criticized by at least one prominent critic for not actually saying much. My favorite of his poems are a handful of love lyrics that I think are very beautiful. The one that sticks in my mind best is "Love and Sleep." A wonderful, wonderful little gem.

David Rehak

author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

A great.... but oft forgotten poet....
Swinburne has been my favorite poet since I passed out of my Goethe phaseat around seventeen. So what if he writes in stilted, outdated languageusing images that have passed out of our cultural mileau? He puts wordstogether intricately. He writes beautifully. If you read other people'saccounts of him (see 'The Education of Henry Adams' for one) he wasconsidered one of the smartest people to ever live.

He's a fine poetalbeit an acquired taste. It's great that you can buy a volume of hiscompleted works rather than having to see two works in a Norton's anthologyand then... nothing...

I doubt that he'll ever again be a crowdfavorite. If you've gotten to this review, buy this book. He's awesome. ... Read more

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Songs of the Springtides and Birthday Ode - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne-Vol. III is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Algernon Charles Swinburne is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Algernon Charles Swinburne then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more